Author's Note: For those that have read this chapter already, know that nothing has changed plotwise, I just expanded the dialogue and in my opinion improved the pacing so it's less rushed, characters might be a little bit more in line with what they are later in the story due to developments of mine, but no revelations or changes to their backstory will occur. In other words, you won't miss anything by not rereading.
Jennifer's quiet and uneventful evening was interrupted as "Bonnie Blue Flag" was replaced with a thunder crash and shattering wood. Eyes wide in alarm she glanced back over the chair and towards the hallway where a cloud of white dust was billowing out from the general direction of the bathroom.
Waving aside the plaster dust Jennifer entered the bathroom warily, peaking herself around the corner. Once inside she was greeted by a scene of utter carnage amongst the bathroom. The ceramic bathtub and a good portion of the left wall was in utter shambles, the tiles crushed and shattered, the mirror, as if provoked by her arrival, suddenly crashed upon the sole other occupant of the room, who let out a soft and pitiful grunt upon it shattering upon their back.
"He-hello?" Jennifer stammered, nervously from her position on the doorframe "Who's there?"
The figure responded with a second groan from underneath the pile of plaster and sheetrock.
"Do you need me to get some help- I can call Uncle Andy! He's super good with these kind of things."
With a cough, the figure, a woman rolled onto her side dropping bits of broken mirror and plaster onto the floor before heaving herself onto her side and propping herself up with her arm, glancing upwards girl with a look that, past the dust obscuring her features, appeared to be of bewilderment rivaling Jennifer's own.
The two gave each other a long moment of uncomprehending expressions before the woman finally, "I uh- I tripped" she explained quietly pulling a foot out of a ruined gash in the side of the tub to demonstrate.
"W-what?" The girl stammered.
"I was in the tub and I tripped…" the woman pointed at the tub before suddenly taking interest in her own hands. "Well that's a new feeling" she muttered half to herself.
"Wh-you in the tub!?"
The woman's confusion deepened, "to be honest I don't remember," she stated before an expression of remembrance took her face, "I think it was the music."
Jennifer's expression of shock slowly took on an edge of excitement "Wait, did you come from the tub? Did it work?"
The woman shrugged from underneath the pile and began to stand up with surprising grace considering the bits of plaster and glass dropping off of her. "But at any rate, sorry about the bathtub, it took me a bit off guard."
The woman stood finally, clad in a modest dress of white, auburn hair pinned, surprisingly neatly given the circumstances, with a gold pin with a small eagle on it. She smiled beneath her dust mask, coughing lightly and offering a hand to Jennifer "Battleship number 4, USS Iowa."
Jennifer let out a squeal of delight before eagerly grasping the ship's hand with both of her own, "here, let's go into the living room! We can-uh, talk! And other stuff! Uncle Andy's going to be so happy!" She tugged the battleship along while the later made a half hearted attempt to dust herself off before allowing herself to be dragged by her enthusiastic host, nearly tearing a second whole through the doorframe from the rapid pace she was pulled at.
Her guest now seated firmly on the living room couch, Jennifer was on the edge of her seat, watching as the battleship, despite obvious attempts to maintain an impassive demeanor, continued to attempt to get used to her new body, fidgeting awkwardly on the couch with her hands folded regally in her lap. After several minutes of the woman being overwhelmed by her surroundings and a mounting desire to break the awkward silence Jennifer spoke up.
"So-uh, how are you doing?"
The woman looked slightly alarmed at the sudden outburst after the period of silent pondering but did a good job of recovering and hiding it. "Uh, let's see, morale seems high but the engineers seem dissatisfied with the quantity of coal I carry and my gunnery officer reports a shortage of ammunition with all artillery, which is interesting of its own accord, being that I actually have artillery apparently, and-" she sighed and grimaced "Apparently the officer of my marines have felt it necessary to tell me that they are 'bored'"
"Oh, I uh, was more wondering if you needed anything like food, but uh, that works"
"Food?"
"Yeah, like snacks and stuff."
Their conversation was interrupted by a horrifying growling noise followed by a pitiful squeak and Iowa clutching her stomach with a mortified expression.
"That may help with the trouble the engineers are giving me."
Jennifer just jumped up excitedly once again, "I thought so when I was with uncle hes in the navy and invited me to see a shipgirl summoning and it was pretty awesome anyway afterwards she was super hungry and ate like a million hamburgers they said she was a destroyer and she was super small not like you youre pretty big which means i bet youre reeeeeaaaally hungry" the young girl squealed with a remarkably audible lack of punctuation as she rushed off to the kitchen leaving a temporarily bewildered Iowa to gather herself and begin to follow.
Jennifer was already tearing apart the kitchen and pulling out all sorts of pots pans and dishes when several thousand tons of American warship finally entered, greeted by a jolly grin as the girl began tearing open bags and opening jars and containers, throwing together ingredients with rushed and messy abandon.
Iowa cast a wary look over the scene, finding herself once again overwhelmed by her surroundings as she pulled herself into a chair.
Soon, the girl, hands now covered with all sorts of mess, returned with a smile dropping a ridiculously messy peanut butter and jelly sandwich, before the battleship. Who stared at it unsure.
"Aren't you hungry."
"Iowa looked unsure, completely foreign to the concept of eating, she picked up the sandwich experimentally, before taking an experimental bite out of the corner.
And then shoving half of it in her mouth, barely able to chew she let out a contented and bread filled moan shortly before the sheer unladylike desperation of her act hit her.
"Suhhy, dnt men to, s'goo"
"I mean- sorry, I didn't mean to grab it all like that-" Iowa explained after several minutes of labored chewing covering her embarrassment..
The girl appeared not to notice, "Uncle bought me lots of stuff for sandwiches if you're still hungry! I have like, 3 whole loafs of bread!" The girl announced happily pulling a loaf out of the closet.
Lieutenant Commander Mitchells cast a forlorn glance towards his watch as he fumbled in his pockets for his keys 10:10, far later than he intended to spend at work, but that was hardly unusual.
Inside the small house, the lights were off, what caught the commander off guard was the rousing chorus of "Dixieland" coming from deep within, despite the lack of lights.
"Jenn? It's late, go to bed, you've got school in the morning", he called down the hallway, "Jenn?" Her questioned upon the lack of response.
Warily the officer peered down the darkened hallway, eyes wide, he noted a large mound of drywall and dust filling the area outside of the bathroom as if an explosion had occurred
Alarmed, he drew to the right, glancing into his own room and upon noting it was still empty, he carefully moved over to his old wooden dresser, opening the top drawer as quietly as he could and pulling open the safe inside, removing the small handgun stored within. "Jenn?" he called apprehensively but to no response.
Carefully he creepy over the rubble of his bathroom, weapon ready but in a low position. While said bathroom was mercifully empty, the inside was a mess, the tub had shattered spilling water all over the broken bits of plaster and wood, one the ruined counter stood a smartphone happily blaring all sorts of Americana music, picking up the phone he eyed it warily before noting it was indeed Jennifer's, he let out a light curse under his breath before proceeding down the hall.
Stepping finally into the kitchen, the light examination he gave deepend his worry and confusion, as whole the cupboards were near bare, the appliances and even the small radio he liked to use while he cooked, stood unmolested. The complete deatruction of the House's food stores also evidenced by the large pile of dirty plates sitting haphazardly on the counter and sink as well as the trashcan near overflowing with the empty wrappers and containers from said pantry.
"Jenn?" The Lieutenant Commander called again, this time turning towards the living room, where a faint glow emanated.
The living room was in better shape than the other two, nearly identical to how he left it, with exception of the unknown woman sleeping soundly in a bundle of blankets on the pull out couch, her back facing towards him, the TV playing what appeared to be his old collections of silent movies, leaving the woman to nap, undisturbed by noise.
Raising the handgun to a low ready he called out with an authoritative and stern voice "Excuse me miss, the hell are you doing in my house?"
The woman stirred slightly muttering under her breath and pulling the sheets over her face, which clearly bore evidence of her role in destroying his bathroom.
"Hey lady!" He called, louder and with more authority.
From the far side of the woman the familiar head of Jennifer popped up, groggy and confused, Mitchells had only the briefest moment to notice it before he noted the woman also groggily eyed him, looking around confused and disoriented until she locked eyes with the handgun.
With sudden action, the woman kicked herself off the couch, pushing Jennifer protectively behind her as the blankets, and pillows were scattered into the air, accompanying the sickening crunch of her aggressive rebound damaging his furnature. When the commander's head finally caught up to what his eyes were showing him he began to size up the woman. Solodly built but graceful in the white summer dress the most notable features were either her expression, which, despite the plaster dust and jam still smeared on it was cold, hostile, and prepared to act or the dizzying array of artillery pieces strapped to a harness on her back, rotating with a deliberate mechanical whir towards his face
Noting the superior firepower Mitchells's gun clattered helplessly on the floor.
Pushing Jennifer protectively behind her, the woman continued to bear her impressive arsenal down on him, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Wait! No! It's just Uncle Andy! He lives here too!" The girl loudly protested from behind 11,000 tons of gunboat diplomacy.
The woman glanced down at Jennifer face suddenly softening before turning back to the intruder, "Oh" was all she felt necessary to add, her armaments disappearing behind her.
For his part the Lieutenant Commander simply returned a stare of near absolute confusion, before picking the gun up carefully and setting it on a nearby side table.
"So, you're a uh- a ship? I'm sorry to say I didn't recognize you, were you summoned recently?" He asked, before a twinge of frustration took over, "and what are you going tearing my house up!"
Mitchells followed the guilty gaze that served as Jennifer's response to his query towards the ruined mess of a bathroom.
"Jennifer?" He asked, with some finality
"Yes Uncle Andy?" the girl asked nervously.
"Did you summon a warship in the bathroom?"
"Uh-maybe?" returned Jennifer as she scooted herself behind Iowa, hoping the thick belt armor would block the judgmental stares.
The officer sized the woman up again, "So which ship are you?"
The woman, smiling warmly behind the mask of both ruined bathroom and raided pantry contents, offered her hand near politely enough to eradicate all memories of what the inside of a naval rifle looks like.
"USS Iowa, it's a pleasure." She declared.
"Wait-Iowa? The battleship?"
"That'd be the one," she declared proudly.
"We finally got a battleship?" The asked to no one in particular. "I'm going to have to make some calls…"